Running Away From The Past
by TheSouthLondonShaman
Summary: Vince meets a strange character while running away. But will he ever escape his past?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A 16 year old Vince was running faster than he had ever run before. He didn't stop, and he didn't look back. He didn't know where he was running to, but he didn't care. All he knew was that he had to get away. Away from the place that he had been forced to live in for his whole life. He was determined to escape this time. He had tried to run away before, but the police had always dragged him back. Not this time. This time he would escape for good.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Vince arrived in a park, gasping for breath. He felt as though he'd been running for hours. The tiny boy collapsed onto a park bench, his breath slowly returning. He stayed seated for a few moments, then stood up. He noticed a figure walking over to him. Turning, he ran as quickly as he could away from the approaching person.

"Wait!" Vince made the mistake of looking around, and tripped. The figure approached, speaking softly.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just go away!" Vince said, fighting the urge to lash out. But as the figure bent closer, his instincts grew too strong, and he flew at the stranger. A terrifying, primal noise came from his throat. But his opponent turned out to be surprisingly strong, and had him pinned down in minutes.

"Let me go!" Vince cried, struggling.

"Why did you attack me?"

"You were going to hurt me! It was self-defence!"

"Why would I hurt you?" the stranger asked, shocked.

"I don't know!" Vince admitted.

"Look, I won't hurt you. What's your name?"

"Vince."

"I'm Howard."

"Hi." They went to sit down on the bench Vince had run from.

"Why are you here?" Vince asked.

"I live near here. I come here most nights. Why are you here?"

"I'm running away."

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. Where are you going to go?"  
"No idea." Vince sighed.

"You can come to mine if you've got nowhere else. My flat's big enough, and it's just me at the minute."

"But you hardly know me! For all you know, I could be a murderer!"

"You're not, though."  
"Can I really?"

"Yeah, of course. Come on, let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Morning." Vince mumbled, still half asleep.

"It's afternoon." Howard replied.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It doesn't matter. You had a rough night. Do you want breakfast?"

"Yeah, please." Vince said, a little suspicious. Several minutes later, a bowl of cereal was placed in front of him. He took a cautious mouthful. Convinced it was safe, he devoured the food, hardly taking a breath.

"Do you want some more?" Howard asked. Vince nodded hungrily. Howard refilled the bowl, and Vince ate it in what seemed like seconds. He looked up at Howard hopefully.

"Sorry, little man you'll be sick. When did you last eat?"

"I can't remember. Monday?"  
"Monday? Vince, it's Wednesday!"

"And?"

"Why didn't you eat?" Howard asked, worried.

"No food." Came the short reply.

"Did you live on your own?"

"Not really…"

"That's not healthy, Vince. You have to eat."

"It's not exactly by choice."

"As long as you stay here, you'll eat." Howard said firmly.

"Thanks Howard."

"Don't mention it."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"No…no, get off! Get away from me! "Leave me alone!" Cries of anger and fear came from Vince's bedroom. Howard, who was a light sleeper, was quickly alerted to the noise. He jumped up and rushed into Vince's room, panicking. Thousands of horrific possibilities flashed through his mind.

When he arrived, his friend was thrashing and shouting in his sleep. Howard walked over to him, a little scared.

"Vince…Vince, wake up!" He said, shaking his friend's shoulder. Vince suddenly sat up, a terrified look on his face. "Vince, you were having a nightmare. Don't worry, it's over now, it was just a dream."

"No, it wasn't. It wasn't a dream."  
"It was, Vince. It wasn't real."  
"It was. I was remembering…they were attacking me, and I was attacking them…I couldn't get away, Howard. I couldn't get away from them!" His voice cracked, and he dissolved into sobs.

"Who, Vince? Who was attacking you?" Howard asked urgently, but his friend was too hysterical to speak. "Never mind. Come here." He sighed, pulling the small man into a hug. They stayed like that until Vince had calmed down. When he was quiet, Howard gently laid him back down onto the bed.

"Sorry, Howard." Vince said, humiliated at his outburst.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong. Go back to sleep." Howard said quietly. Vince's tired eyelids drooped, and Howard left the room, silently closing the door behind him.

"What could have made Vince so scared?" He mused quietly to himself.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Howard, about last night…" Vince began the next evening.

"You don't have to apologise. And I won't make you talk about anything you're uncomfortable about." Howard interrupted.

"No, you deserve to know." Vince took a deep breath and began. "I had an unhappy childhood. I never really got on with my parents. My Mum died when I was about three. After that, my Dad started hitting me. He would hit me every day, and he never fed me. I ended up stealing food to stay alive. It got worse as I got older. He manipulated me, making me believe everything he said. He made me believe that I was the reason my Mum had died, that I was worthless. Whenever I ran away, he had the police drag me back. So, as soon as I turned sixteen, I ran away. I knew that he wouldn't have any custody claim because I was an adult. That's when you found me in the park." He looked up at Howard with an apologetic look in his eyes, shaking slightly. He had curled up into a ball, as if he was trying to make himself invisible.

"I'm sorry, Vince, I had no idea."

"Why would you?"

"Come on. You need sleep." Howard stood and picked his friend up. He carried Vince through to his room, and laid him down on the bed. "Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning." He stepped out of the room. Vince curled up and nestled into his pillow. He was glad that he'd told Howard about his past, even if it felt horrible at the time. He soon fell asleep, exhausted.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next day, Vince woke to find Howard cooking bacon. He walked into the kitchen, sniffing appreciatively.

"That smells amazing, Howard!"

"You need feeding up." Howard replied, smiling at him. "It'll be done in a minute. Do you want some tea?"

"Yeah, please." Vince said, sitting down. Howard placed a bacon sandwich and a cup of sweet, milky tea in front him. He got his own breakfast then sat next to his friend, who was already devouring the food.

"That was delicious!" Vince declared. Howard was amazed that something so simple could bring such joy to the younger man.

"I'm glad you liked it." Howard said. "Vince, do you have any clothes other than the ones you've worn since I met you?"

"No." Howard realised that he should have asked earlier.

"Have a look through my wardrobe, see if there's anything that fits. I'll put your other clothes in the washing machine while we're out."

"Out? Where?" Asked Vince, bewildered.

"We're going shopping. You need some more clothes."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Howard glanced at the bags wearily. Vince was grinning.

"That was brilliant! Thanks, Howard!" He said, ecstatic. Howard smiled back weakly. He was glad that his friend finally had more than one set of clothes, but it had been an exhausting day. Vince was sitting on the sofa wearing one of his new outfits. It was made up of black jeans, a military style jacket, brown converse with purple laces and a t-shirt that said 'David Bowie space oddity'. Howard thought that it was one of the more normal outfits they had bought. Still, at least Vince was happy.

"Sorry Vince. I shouldn't have let you eat so much." Howard said. Vince was sitting on the sofa, sipping a glass of water. He had been sick earlier that night. Howard had told him that his stomach had shrunk because he hadn't eaten for so long.

"It's not your fault. You only did what you thought was best."

"You shouldn't eat anything too heavy for a while. And you should stick to plain foods." Howard instructed.

"What, like crackers?"

"Yeah. I know it'll be boring, but you'll feel better." Vince made a face, but didn't complain. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Vince said.

"Good. You should probably go back to bed. You need rest."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Vince woke up to hear Howard screaming. He jumped out of bed, pulling on a dressing gown. Racing out of the door, he tried to work out where the noise was coming from. Realising that it was coming from the bathroom, he burst in to find Howard standing in the middle of the room, pointing at the floor and gibbering.

"What's going on, Howard?" Vince asked urgently. Howard didn't speak, he just continued to point at the floor. Following his gaze, Vince looked down. He didn't see anything for a moment, then realised that there was a small spider in the middle of the room. "Howard, are you scared of spiders?"

"No! Anyway, that's not a spider, it's way too big!"

"Howard, it's tiny."

"It's enormous! Just get rid of it!" Howard replied, finally finding his voice. He then half walked, half ran out of the room.

"Bloody hell." Vince muttered to himself. He leant down and looked at the spider. "Look, mate, just go, ok?"

"Why should I? I've lived here longer than him!"

"Look, I'm not saying you can't stay, just hide when he comes in, ok?"

"Ok, but I'm not moving! I've grown up here!" the spider replied, trying to come out on top.

"Whatever you say." Vince said, standing up. The spider scuttled away, muttering.

"Vince? Were you…talking to that spider?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, everything's sorted, he's pretty grumpy but he's agreed to my conditions." Vince said cheerily.

"Vince, are you honestly saying that the spider was talking back to you?"

"Yeah. It's no big deal, all animals do it."

"All animals talk to you?"

"Yeah."

"Fair enough. Just…don't do it in public, ok? You'll look weird." Howard had grown used to Vince acting oddly. Vince shrugged and walked out. Howard followed out, shaking his head in disbelief.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Don't worry Vince, everything will be fine." Howard said. Vince was about to be interviewed for a job at the zoo Howard worked in. He was worrying, which was unusual. He was normally calm, cool and collected. But today was different. It would be his first job. He'd been living with Howard for a month now, during which the older man had been gently encouraging him to get a job. When Vince didn't do anything about his unemployment, Howard got him a job interview for the position of junior keeper in the zoo where he worked.

Vince knocked on the door and walked into an office. When he entered, he found a fairly short, fat man dancing.

"And that's why I can't eat meatballs." Concluded the man, sitting down. "Vincey! Come in! Sit down!" The man shouted enthusiastically.

"How do you know my name?" Vince asked, slightly terrified. The man didn't answer.

"Are you the new keeper?"

"I'm here for my job interview." Vince explained.

"Do you have any experience as a zookeeper?"

"I'm pretty good with animals, actually. They talk to me." He chuckled slightly, remembering a conversation he'd had with a pigeon about how cool flying was.

"Yeah, whatever, you start on Monday."

"How did it go?" Howard asked, almost jumping on his friend as he left the office.

"Brilliant! I start on Monday!"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. It was great. Can we have spaghetti for tea?" Vince asked, almost bouncing. Howard nodded in bewilderment. "The boss is weird, though. He was dancing when I went in, and he knew my name before I told him."

"Yeah, Mr Fossil's a bit..." Howard said, trying to find an appropriate word "odd."

"Well, that's one way of putting it." Vince pulled a face, then continued to skip along the path back to their flat.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Come on Howard, it wasn't that bad!" Vince said, crashing onto the sofa.

"Vince, we were sacked."

"And? We can get another job!"

"It's not that easy, Vince. We've got no money coming in. You've got no qualifications. How will we get jobs?"

"Just calm down. Everything will be fine!"

"How can you say that? How do you know?"

"Stop being so negative!"

"Stop being so unrealistic!" Howard stormed off into his room. Vince watched him go, but didn't follow. Their fights never lasted long. They would be friends again soon, and it would be as if nothing ever happened.

He was right. A week later, they were lounging on the sofa, watching Colobus The Crab and eating mini pretzels. Neither of them was actually paying attention to the television; both men were drifting slowly off to sleep. Suddenly, a loud noise woke them from their half-slumber. They heard banging coming from their door, but it wasn't normal banging, like when an impatient person wants to come in. It took them a moment, but they soon realised that someone was trying to break their door down.

"Howard?" Vince whispered, terrified.

"Don't worry little man." Howard whispered back. "Phone the police. I'll try and get them to go away." But the younger man was curled up in a ball, shaking his head. "Vince…" Howard began. Vince didn't get a chance to hear the rest. The door broke down and a voice roared through the flat, making him freeze, helpless.

"Vince!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Howard shot Vince a panicked glance.

"Where are you, Vince?" The voice shouted again. Whoever it belonged to was crashing through the flat, searching every room. From what they could hear, the person was getting nearer.

The living room door burst open. A man stormed in, his face like thunder.

"Who are you?" Howard demanded, jumping up.

"Who are you?" The man asked, poking Howard in the chest.

"I'm Howard Moon, sir. Jazz maverick and Britain's leading cream poet." He drew himself up proudly. "I'll ask again, who are you?"

"I" replied the man, towering over Howard "am Simon Noir."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Did you really think I wouldn't find you? Did you honestly believe that you had escaped?" He was advancing towards Vince menacingly. Vince was curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth and mumbling to himself. "Look at you, still useless. You've never done anything worthwhile, you stupid, pointless idiot. He pulled Vince's hair, jerking his head upwards. His face was streaked with tears, his eyes filled with terror.

"And who's this?" He turned towards Howard. "What did he tell you? Did he tell you how badly I treated him? How I would beat him and starve him and lock him away?" He laughed, and began pushing Howard towards the wall. "Oh, I bet he did. I wonder if he actually told you anything true. I wonder if he told you that he's a thieving, lying little scumbag." Howard opened his mouth to argue.

"Get off him." Simon Noir turned towards Vince, a cruel smile on his face.

"What was that?"

"Get. Off. Him." Vince said, dangerously quiet.

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll make you."

"Make me? You haven't been able to make me do anything since you were 3 years old! 13 years on and still useless."

"I'm warning you. Get off him and get out or I will make you."

"What will you do? A father visiting his child, people won't think anything of it. I'll get my way, Vince. I always get my way."

"A father?" Vince spat. "You stopped being my father when Mum died."

"When you killed her!"

"I did not kill her! It was not my fault!"

"Yes it was, Vince. It was all your fault." He was inches away from Vince now.

"No it wasn't!" Vince screamed. He swung his right fist out and it connected with Simon's face. "It wasn't my fault! None of it was my fault!" He took a moment to breathe. "Now get out."

"Do you honestly think I'm going to leave you here? You're coming with me." With that, he dragged Vince out, ignoring Howard's loud threats and feeble punches.

"Stop! Leave him alone! Bring him back!" Simon simply punched him in the side of the head, knocking him out.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Vince…hurt…" Howard muttered as he finally came round. He rubbed his head. "I have to help him!" He shouted, jumping up. He tried to think logically. He knew that he had to call the police. "Phone…Where's the phone?" Finding it, Howard quickly dialled the number of the emergency services.

"Emergency services, would you like police, fire or ambulance?"

"Police, please!"

"Putting you through."

"Dalston police services."

"Hello, my name's Howard Moon, my friend's just been kidnapped!"

"Do you know the identity of the kidnapper?"

"His father, Simon Noir."

"His father? Mr Moon, if your friend left to see his father, there's nothing to worry about."

"He didn't! Simon Noir broke into our flat, beat Vince, knocked me out, then kidnapped him!"

"Are you sure, Mr Moon?"

"Of course I'm sure! My door is broken, my best friend is gone and I've just regained consciousness!"

"Can you describe the kidnapper, please?"

"Tall, bald and violent."

"And your friend?"

"Thin, blonde hair, wearing a poncho."

"Do you have any idea where they may have gone?"

"No, not at all."

"Ok. We'll begin to search as soon as possible. Will we be able to contact you on this number?"

"Yes. Can I search?"

"Of course, Mr Moon. We'll do our best to find your friend."

"Thank you."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Rain was pouring, it was getting rapidly darker and the air was bitingly cold, but Howard didn't care. Not stopping to get a jacket, he rushed out into the street, slamming the door behind him. Running blindly, his mind raced. Where was he? Was he hurt? Was he alive?

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the horrible thought.

"Watch where you're going." A voice said angrily. A few seconds later, Howard realised he's crashed into someone. He also realised that this had probably happened because he'd had his eyes closed.

"Sorry." He muttered distractedly. He went to walk on, but the voice calls him back.

"You're Howard Moon, aren't you?" It said suddenly. Surprised and slightly scared, Howard turned.

"Yeah, I am."

"You worked at the Zooniverse, didn't you? You were Vince's mate."

"Yeah." He studied the person closely, trying to work out who on earth it was. "Naboo?"

"Yeah. How are you both? Why were you charging down the street like there were wolves at your heels?"

"It's a long story, actually."

"Then shorten it."

"Vince is in trouble."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Have you seen him about in the last hour or two?" The small shaman shook his head sadly. "What about a tall, bald man? They might have been driving." Another shake of the head. Then, his face lit up.

"Actually, I might be able to do something. Do you know the name of the man?"

"Simon Noir."

"Noir? Isn't that Vince's surname?" Howard nodded his head grimly.

"Simon Noir is Vince's dad. Vince hadn't seen him since he was sixteen. He broke in and knocked me out. When I came round, they were gone."

"Bloody hell. Look, I'll see what I can do. Can I take your number?" Howard gave it to him. "I'll get in touch. Good luck."


End file.
